Bump In The Night
Chapter 3 "...In The BPRD"
By OldScout
Faith stepped through the double blast doors the lift had deposited her in front of. Waiting for her was Agent Meyers. He held out his hand. "I'm Special Agent John Meyers."
"Hey John," Faith said and took his hand. "Nice place you got here." She looked around at the mixture of industrial bomb shelter, sterile office suite, and old world wood paneling. "Real homey."
"Won't you come this way?" He gestured down the hall.
"So, J." Faith followed and smiled as he cringed at the use of his initial; he was going to be fun. "You going to fill me in or should I start guessing and making shit up?"
"Director Manning asked me to bring you to his office. But I would like to know what you were doing down there last night."
"You mean besides saving your ass?"
"Yea, besides saving my ass."
"My job. You?"
"The same."
"Good, now that we have that cleared up..." Faith said as they stopped in front of an office. Meyers knocked and went in without waiting for a reply and introduced Faith to Director Manning.
Director Manning stood up and reached across his desk to shake Faith's hand. "Nice to meet you Faith," He said in greeting. "Won't you take your coat off and have seat." He gestured toward Agent Meyers. "Agent Meyers, won't you take the lady's jacket?"
Faith looked at the man suspiciously then dropped the long black duster off her shoulders and held it out towards Agent Meyers dangling it from her finger tips. The agent nearly dropped it from the unexpected weight. Faith grinned watching him fumble to get a better grip on the garment. The coat rack he hung it on almost tilted over from the weight and it took him several tries to get the balance right.
Meyers sat next to Faith with his chair turned so he could see her and the Director. She sat lounged back in her chair, bare arms draped across the arms of the chair and feet sticking straight out in front of her, one foot stacked on the other, heel to toe.
"So Manny, what's the scoop?" Faith asked as soon as Director Manning was sitting and looking toward her. "I don't think that you give a guided tour of this little place to anybody who walks up and pushes that button."
"You're quite right, Miss, ah, Faith." The balding director said. "We are extremely selective in whom we allow into our operation, let alone even to know of our existence."
She cocked an eye brow at him waiting for him to continue.
"We are the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, or BPRD."
"Burp?"
"It does not spell burp." Agent Meyers said.
"Close enough." Faith grinned at him.
"Ah, Faith, you are here, because I would like to offer you a job."
Meyers and Faith both spoke at the same time. "A job? You don't know anything about her?" "A job? You don't know anything about me?"
"Wait a minute." Faith said standing up and backing toward her jacket. "This isn't part of the Initiative? B. warned me about those bastards. This was some sort of set up wasn't it?
"Please, Faith," Manning tried to reassure her. "We are not part of the D.R.I."
"The what?" Faith and Meyers asked together.
"The Demon Research Initiative." Manning clarified. "They're sort of our bastard half cousin." He smiled. "And I'm sure they would have just as an amusing description of us."
Faith remained standing by her jacket continuing to glare at him.
Manning hung his head for a second then said. "Okay, this was a bit of a setup, but it was really no more then setting out some bait to get your attention and hoping you'd pay us a visit. You see I became aware of the work your friends were doing in Sunnydale from the Initiative. I became intrigued by the idea of civilians doing a job such as this. From what I could glean from their reports was that your friends in Sunnydale were actually conducting business more like the BPRD."
"How's that." Faith was intrigued. She'd never really been involved with the Initiative and had only a short exposure to the Scoobies day to day operations before the final battles.
Manning gestured at Faith's chair which she finally returned to. "You see, the Initiative looked at demons like animals. They applied human and non- mystical standards to them. Our mission is not only to protect, but to understand. We understand that the world of the paranormal operates under its own rules.
When Doctor Broom, the founder of the BPRD, discovered that a slayer really existed he wanted us to go right out there and recruit her. However with the disastrous encounter with the Initiative, our analysts decided she would not fit in here, and in fact had her own destiny to follow."
"So I'm your second choice. You knew B. wouldn't give you the time of day so you figured you'd go with the consolation prize."
"Unless I missed something, you walked into the hell mouth with Miss Summers, did you not? You took on the Beast, knowing full well that you probably couldn't hurt it let alone defeat it, did you not?"
"Well, a lot of other girls followed us into Hell and they weren't slayers yet. You want to talk about bravery; that took some real guts."
"They followed, but you and Miss Summers lead. You two are the experienced Slayers you know the streets and what's under them. Those other girls won't be ready for a long time. Miss Summers now has family to be concerned with, business obligations, slayers to train and frankly I don't think she would fit in here.
"You on the other hand, still have a debt to pay and you have no choice but to continue your battles. You are caught between the need to fight the good fight, and pay your debt."
"Hey, I'm legal here, I've got some kind of special furlough, I think Angel arranged it, I can go any where I want as long I as check in once a month and anytime I change cities."
"Faith, your friend Angel didn't arrange your furlough, I did." Manning made the admission almost in a whisper.
Instead of the surge of rage and accusations of coercion he was expecting, Faith began to laugh. "So that's it, that's the price of my freedom. Xander said I was going to pay the piper one of these days, because even if it was Angel, Wolfram and Hart never do anything simply as a gesture of good will. I'd rather rot in prison then be forced to work for anybody." She got up and headed for her jacket a second time.
"I'm sorry you feel that way Faith." Manning said. "But there is no ultimatum it is a waste to keep you behind bars as long as your willing to fight the darkness. If you do not wish to join us, then the conditions of your furlough still stand. However, if you do join us, then you will not have to make your monthly phone calls or notify anybody of your whereabouts except of course us, since we'll be your employers. Plus you will be on the government payroll, with a new clean identity and other perks of working for a well funded government organization."
"I can't just disappear. I owe my friends, and they still count on me to take care of more, ah, troublesome situations."
"I'm not asking you to. You can stay in touch; in fact, I was thinking you could become our liaison with them. You know I bet both of our organizations could use a little extra muscle every now and then."
"They don't play well with others." Faith smiled. "Especially the government."
"That's where you'd come in."
"I don't play well with just about anybody."
"Then you'd fit in just fine here."
"Can I think about it?"
"Of course, just call your furlough number if you ever decide to take me up on it."
"You'd get the message?"
Manning pointed at an answering machine sitting on a nearby dark wood credenza. "There's your furlough line. That's how I knew when to start sending the boys out vampire hunting. I figured you'd run into each other eventually.
Do you have any more questions before we give you the full tour?"
"Um I have a few questions." Meyers finally broke his silence. "What is a Slayer? Who or what was the Beast? What's a Hell Mouth? And who's Miss Summers?"
To Be Continued...............
Chapter 3 "...In The BPRD"
By OldScout
Faith stepped through the double blast doors the lift had deposited her in front of. Waiting for her was Agent Meyers. He held out his hand. "I'm Special Agent John Meyers."
"Hey John," Faith said and took his hand. "Nice place you got here." She looked around at the mixture of industrial bomb shelter, sterile office suite, and old world wood paneling. "Real homey."
"Won't you come this way?" He gestured down the hall.
"So, J." Faith followed and smiled as he cringed at the use of his initial; he was going to be fun. "You going to fill me in or should I start guessing and making shit up?"
"Director Manning asked me to bring you to his office. But I would like to know what you were doing down there last night."
"You mean besides saving your ass?"
"Yea, besides saving my ass."
"My job. You?"
"The same."
"Good, now that we have that cleared up..." Faith said as they stopped in front of an office. Meyers knocked and went in without waiting for a reply and introduced Faith to Director Manning.
Director Manning stood up and reached across his desk to shake Faith's hand. "Nice to meet you Faith," He said in greeting. "Won't you take your coat off and have seat." He gestured toward Agent Meyers. "Agent Meyers, won't you take the lady's jacket?"
Faith looked at the man suspiciously then dropped the long black duster off her shoulders and held it out towards Agent Meyers dangling it from her finger tips. The agent nearly dropped it from the unexpected weight. Faith grinned watching him fumble to get a better grip on the garment. The coat rack he hung it on almost tilted over from the weight and it took him several tries to get the balance right.
Meyers sat next to Faith with his chair turned so he could see her and the Director. She sat lounged back in her chair, bare arms draped across the arms of the chair and feet sticking straight out in front of her, one foot stacked on the other, heel to toe.
"So Manny, what's the scoop?" Faith asked as soon as Director Manning was sitting and looking toward her. "I don't think that you give a guided tour of this little place to anybody who walks up and pushes that button."
"You're quite right, Miss, ah, Faith." The balding director said. "We are extremely selective in whom we allow into our operation, let alone even to know of our existence."
She cocked an eye brow at him waiting for him to continue.
"We are the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, or BPRD."
"Burp?"
"It does not spell burp." Agent Meyers said.
"Close enough." Faith grinned at him.
"Ah, Faith, you are here, because I would like to offer you a job."
Meyers and Faith both spoke at the same time. "A job? You don't know anything about her?" "A job? You don't know anything about me?"
"Wait a minute." Faith said standing up and backing toward her jacket. "This isn't part of the Initiative? B. warned me about those bastards. This was some sort of set up wasn't it?
"Please, Faith," Manning tried to reassure her. "We are not part of the D.R.I."
"The what?" Faith and Meyers asked together.
"The Demon Research Initiative." Manning clarified. "They're sort of our bastard half cousin." He smiled. "And I'm sure they would have just as an amusing description of us."
Faith remained standing by her jacket continuing to glare at him.
Manning hung his head for a second then said. "Okay, this was a bit of a setup, but it was really no more then setting out some bait to get your attention and hoping you'd pay us a visit. You see I became aware of the work your friends were doing in Sunnydale from the Initiative. I became intrigued by the idea of civilians doing a job such as this. From what I could glean from their reports was that your friends in Sunnydale were actually conducting business more like the BPRD."
"How's that." Faith was intrigued. She'd never really been involved with the Initiative and had only a short exposure to the Scoobies day to day operations before the final battles.
Manning gestured at Faith's chair which she finally returned to. "You see, the Initiative looked at demons like animals. They applied human and non- mystical standards to them. Our mission is not only to protect, but to understand. We understand that the world of the paranormal operates under its own rules.
When Doctor Broom, the founder of the BPRD, discovered that a slayer really existed he wanted us to go right out there and recruit her. However with the disastrous encounter with the Initiative, our analysts decided she would not fit in here, and in fact had her own destiny to follow."
"So I'm your second choice. You knew B. wouldn't give you the time of day so you figured you'd go with the consolation prize."
"Unless I missed something, you walked into the hell mouth with Miss Summers, did you not? You took on the Beast, knowing full well that you probably couldn't hurt it let alone defeat it, did you not?"
"Well, a lot of other girls followed us into Hell and they weren't slayers yet. You want to talk about bravery; that took some real guts."
"They followed, but you and Miss Summers lead. You two are the experienced Slayers you know the streets and what's under them. Those other girls won't be ready for a long time. Miss Summers now has family to be concerned with, business obligations, slayers to train and frankly I don't think she would fit in here.
"You on the other hand, still have a debt to pay and you have no choice but to continue your battles. You are caught between the need to fight the good fight, and pay your debt."
"Hey, I'm legal here, I've got some kind of special furlough, I think Angel arranged it, I can go any where I want as long I as check in once a month and anytime I change cities."
"Faith, your friend Angel didn't arrange your furlough, I did." Manning made the admission almost in a whisper.
Instead of the surge of rage and accusations of coercion he was expecting, Faith began to laugh. "So that's it, that's the price of my freedom. Xander said I was going to pay the piper one of these days, because even if it was Angel, Wolfram and Hart never do anything simply as a gesture of good will. I'd rather rot in prison then be forced to work for anybody." She got up and headed for her jacket a second time.
"I'm sorry you feel that way Faith." Manning said. "But there is no ultimatum it is a waste to keep you behind bars as long as your willing to fight the darkness. If you do not wish to join us, then the conditions of your furlough still stand. However, if you do join us, then you will not have to make your monthly phone calls or notify anybody of your whereabouts except of course us, since we'll be your employers. Plus you will be on the government payroll, with a new clean identity and other perks of working for a well funded government organization."
"I can't just disappear. I owe my friends, and they still count on me to take care of more, ah, troublesome situations."
"I'm not asking you to. You can stay in touch; in fact, I was thinking you could become our liaison with them. You know I bet both of our organizations could use a little extra muscle every now and then."
"They don't play well with others." Faith smiled. "Especially the government."
"That's where you'd come in."
"I don't play well with just about anybody."
"Then you'd fit in just fine here."
"Can I think about it?"
"Of course, just call your furlough number if you ever decide to take me up on it."
"You'd get the message?"
Manning pointed at an answering machine sitting on a nearby dark wood credenza. "There's your furlough line. That's how I knew when to start sending the boys out vampire hunting. I figured you'd run into each other eventually.
Do you have any more questions before we give you the full tour?"
"Um I have a few questions." Meyers finally broke his silence. "What is a Slayer? Who or what was the Beast? What's a Hell Mouth? And who's Miss Summers?"
To Be Continued...............